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What is
Transfiguration
Business
®
Transformation
?
Business Transformation is an umbrella term used to describe a major shift, realignment, or fundamental change in a business. It is a concept that has been around for decades, in various forms - TQM / Turnaround / Reengineering / BPR / Restructuring / Cultural Change, and others. Its aim is to introduce wholesale changes to an organisation, to increase the efficiency of its people, processes, or systems; to enable it to create value, to compete more effectively and improve its performance.
There is broad consensus about the underlying aims and objectives of business transformation, and most agree that it should generally cut across the entire organisation, and include all business units and functions. However, it is not uncommon to see a ‘partial’ transformation which only involves specific functions - eg. Finance, IT, or HR. For the proponents of business transfiguration however, such efforts miss the point, and will provide only limited benefits; failing to grasp the hidden value in the aggregate synergies of a full-scale, firm-wide business transformation.
Business Transfiguration: Services
First, what is Business Transformation?
Business Transfiguration: About
Let’s dive deeper into the intriguing subject of Business Transformation.
What does it actually mean in practice?
Business transformation requires the incumbent organisation to embark on wholesale, seismic paradigm shifts to accelerate change and unlock value. It is bold and broad, not incremental; it is a fundamental shift, or realignment in a business; that may cut across all functions. It demands a top-down reconstruction and recalibration of everything it does. When it works, it holds immense potential to yield tremendous rewards - verifiable by well-documented success stories such as Apple and Netflix. However when it fails, due to its broad scope, the results may be catastrophic. It’s an all-in exercise, which urges extreme conscientiousness and caution upon prospectors.
And, what do the veteran consultancies say about it?
Further insight is offered by senior McKinsey partners in "Why your next transformation should be ‘all in'". The study explains that business transformation is about ‘changing what your company is and does’, not merely about productivity advancement efforts to strengthen your bottom line. It ‘requires understanding where the value is shifting in your industry (and in others), spotting opportunities in the inflection points, and taking purposeful actions to seize them’.
This exposition aligns with Deloitte’s diffusion in "Thinking big with business transformation" - 'It is the opportunity to define a bold ambition that goes beyond incremental change - the opportunity to rethink your business and operating models to deliver breakthrough value. It involves strategic decisions that affect where you’ll grow, how your organisation operates, and what kinds of performance improvement you can target'.
Business Transfiguration: Services
Business Transformation describes a major shift, realignment, or fundamental change in a business. It has been around for decades in various forms -
TQM / Turnaround / Reengineering / BPR / Restructuring / Cultural Change. . .
Business Transfiguration: About
In practice, Business Transformation cuts across all functions, and demands a top-down reconstruction and recalibration of everything a business does.
So, what is the rationale for Business Transformation?
In today’s dynamic and disruptive business environment, a business may find itself arriving at a precipice or intersection where it encounters a major or potential impediment to its current or future performance – often called an ‘Inflection-point'.
This may arise due to a wide range of reasons such as increased competition, severe economic conditions, disruptive technologies, regulatory compliance, or due to positive changes such as new strategic potentialities, or IT initiatives. Business transformation aims to help an organisation make a wholesale strategic pivot to generate new value, maximize performance, reduce costs, increase efficiency and productivity, to compete more effectively, and better align its with its strategy.
What does it involve?
Business Transformation involves a comprehensive and integrative change to a company’s (whole business or SBU) strategic, operational, cultural, and digital processes. It is a holistic cross-functional process that essentially requires a remodel of its personnel (organisational, cultural), processes, and technology functions, and includes multiple underlying projects or initiatives each addressing specific process, team/dept, or technology.
What is it not?
Business transformation is not the same as conventional business change, or change management. Whilst often used inter-changeably, they are not the same. The former refers to a fundamental realignment implemented through a portfolio of integrated and interdependent initiatives, with the goal to reinvent the entire organisation. The latter is concerned with executing a defined change through discrete initiatives, involving a measured shift in the way the business operates.
Is this what everyone should be doing in the current climate?
Certainly, business transformation may yield immense benefits, however, due to the large scale, great costs, high commitment, and higher unpredictability, it also inevitably brings high risks. The desired outcome cannot always be guaranteed across every variable,. Consequently, businesses desiring change should recognise that large-scale transformational change may not always be the right change to achieve positive results,
Business Transfiguration: Services
How to make the right change, for the right reason, at the right time, are some of the most critical decisions a business must make.
A New Level in Business Transformation.
At A New Level Luxury, we believe that the evolving business climate invites businesses to embrace change. Many businesses however, are not confident about how to respond to the pressure to improve, adapt, and navigate the shifting environment - How to make the right change, for the right reason, at the right time, are some of the most critical decisions a business must make. For many business, unfortunately, it is challenging to find the right balance, due to internal and external pressures about embracing transformational change. In many instances therefore, a full-scale business transformation is not the right solution..
Our guiding principle for successful change is to establish what matters most, in order to initiate the right goals from the outset. Next, it is vital to perform a holistic assessment of current performance with reference to the identified, forward-thinking goals, to determine what changes are necessary. By doing this, businesses may discover that positive and impactful transformation may be achieved through modest, conscious, and well-considered changes in certain scenarios, without a full-scale revolution.
We believe
there's a better way
to transform businesses.
An Introduction to
BUSINESS
TRANSFIGURATION
®
At A New Level Luxury, we believe in a better way to transform businesses. Business transfiguration is not an entirely new concept. However, it is not merely a new name for an old idea. It was birthed from a desire to see a shift in the way businesses think about change. At its core, it offers a future-fit, conscious ideology for business, that proactively works towards a better future for all.
Business transfiguration is a proprietary concept that is defined as: 'a change of form in a business to an improved and transcendent state'. To ‘transfigure' means ‘to change positively; to transform in a very positive way; to improve; to elevate (Oxford/Cambridge dictionary). Consequently, it is necessary to establish how to evaluate whether a change is a 'transfiguration'; in order words, whether it delivers on improvement and transcendence. Or, whether it merely appears on the surface to be a positive change, but in due course, will lead to regression and degradation.
Intrinsically, business transfiguration involves reaching beyond purely financial goals and adopting a more holistic and rounded approach when setting business goals. It is driven by a conscious desire to fulfil a greater purpose, and a passion for a better way of doing things. Rather than pursuing individualised advantage, it seeks for a positive outcome for everyone, both today, and tomorrow. It aspires continuously to being better because being the best is not a destination; but a pursuit for excellence.
Our mission is to deliver transfigurative change. We believe that all businesses should seek to embed a bold and sincere mission to contribute to the betterment of society within their activities. We work with luxury SME businesses because we believe that they have a unique opportunity, and responsibility, to play a key leadership role in the shift towards a more sustainable future for all, as stated in Walpole's Sustainability Manifesto.
For businesses that are willing to rise to the challenge, we provide the support to achieve this. We believe that this may require large, sweeping transformation. Or, it may require smaller, structured, discrete changes. What is important is to be heading in the right direction for positive change, because responsible businesses are positioned to be tomorrow’s businesses.
Business Transfiguration: Services
Business Transfiguration: About
A change of form in a business, to an improved and transcendent state.
The Foundations for
BUSINESS
TRANSFIGURATION
The first step in business transfiguration involves a comprehensive assessment of the full impact of the activities of the business, in terms of its environmental, social and governance performance. This measures the non-financial risks and opportunities inherent in its day to day activities, and provides a starting point from where tangible action can be taken to deliver positive change.
Subsequently, a business must seek to evaluate every proposed or desired change activity in light of its ESG effectiveness. This requires asking a simple, but deeply significant question: 'In what way does this goal or activity improve our ESG performance?' The answer to this question must be supported with verifiable metrics, and preset criterion, to provide a meaningful appraisal system.
The current global macroeconomic crisis demands that businesses proactively measure and monitor the impact of their actions. Businesses that desire long-term success must pursue ESG as a business priority, and continuously review how to stay ahead with business goals guided by sustainable objectives. Whilst financial performance continues to be the primary goal for businesses, a lack of action with respect to ESG, could be a threat to the long-term stability of a business. Conversely, having the foresight to take action, could help a business find new opportunities for competitive advantage; a growing reality particularly for SME businesses.
Business transfiguration is transformation for businesses of tomorrow. This is why, at A New Level Luxury, we provide a FREE ESG consultation to every luxury SME business that is interested to learn more. We understand that sometimes businesses have other pressing priorities, which must be imminently addressed. Sometimes however, ESG performance is unintentionally overlooked due to a lack of support and knowledge about where to start, and what it means,. In many cases, businesses are in fact already taking some positive action, and simply need practical guidance to progress further.
Business Transfiguration is Transformation for Businesses of Tomorrow.
Our ESG solution was specially designed to provide tailored support to luxury SME businesses on their ESG journey. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness within the luxury sector, that the increasingly high standards commonly associated with the sector extend to consumer expectations about its sustainability performance. Consequently, luxury SMEs face tough challenges due to their unique impact, specificities, and constraints. Our programme was created specifically with luxury SMEs in mind.
In the current climate of unprecedented disruption, we believe that all businesses can embrace change - but not just any change, it must be the right change. This is why, we do not merely pursue business transformation, with the goal to improve the efficiency of people, processes and systems, as an end in itself. The end goal for business transfiguration is ESG efficiency, which delivers a change of form to an improved and transcendent state. It is a future-fit, conscious ideology for the businesses of tomorrow.
We believe in positive change, for good; for everyone, everywhere; today, and tomorrow..
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